Bad Bunny is planning to make his Super Bowl half-time show as queer as possible, sources claim
Bad Bunny has vowed to wear a dress honouring LGBTQ+ icons. (Getty)
Bad Bunny has vowed to wear a dress honouring LGBTQ+ icons. (Getty)
Rapper Bad Bunny has responded to MAGA whining over his upcoming Super Bowl half-time show by using it to honour Puerto Rican LGBTQ+ icons.
The 31-year-old ‘King of Latin Trap’ will reportedly pay tribute to generations of queer activists, drag performers, and cultural icons during his upcoming show on 8 February.
The award-winning singer, whose real name is Benito Ocasio, refused to cave to right-wing pressure and abuse after the National Football league (NFL) confirmed he would headline the inter-match performance this year.
Several right-wing naysayers called for a mass boycott of the major sporting event, branding it and the singer as “satanic.”
The wave of abuse included threats from the Trump administration which said it would place the singer in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility and “deport” him.
A source close to Ocasio claimed the star, who said he was heterosexual but “fluid” in 2020, wasn’t shaken by the backlash, adding that he “loves controversy” and was “100 per cent going to wear a dress.”
The anonymous stylist, speaking to Radar Online, said the performer planned to wear a “political thunderbolt disguised as couture” which would act as a tribute to historical LGBTQ+ figureheads in Puerto Rico. Another source said he was “not playing it safe,” and that the NFL “has no idea what’s coming. Zero.”
“Let them complain. The dress is already being sewn,” they added.
NFL remains ‘confident’ in Bad Bunny Super Bowl show
Condeming the ongoing homophobic and racist furore across right-wing and white supremacist circles, NFL commissioner Roger Goodall said he remains “confident” in the organisation’s choice.
“We’re confident it’s going to be a great show,” he said during a press conference in October 2025. “He understands the platform that he’s on, and I think it’s going to be exciting and a united moment.
“I’m not sure we’ve ever selected artist where we didn’t have some blowback or criticism. It’s pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds of millions of people that are watching.”
A vocal critic of MAGA Republicans and president Trump, Ocasio’s activism hasn’t slowed since being picked for the show.
He poked fun at conservatives whining over his upcoming performance during an appearance on Saturday Night Live late last year.
“You might not know this, but I’m doing the Super Bowl half-time show. And I’m very happy, and I think everybody’s happy about it… even Fox News,” he joked.
Following NFL’s announcement, Department of Homeland Security advisor, Corey Lewandowski, threatened Ocasio with deportation, saying during a podcast spot: “We will find you, we will apprehend you, we will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you.”
Bad Bunny said in December that the Super Bowl’s half-time would be his only US performance in 2026, telling I-D magazine: “f***ing ICE could be outside. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Despite the backlash, Bad Bunny remains one of the biggest stars globally right now. He has been the top-streamed artist on Spotify for four consecutive years, with over 19.8 billion streams last year alone.
